Enjoy the incredible view and great food at Bulvar; get inspired by the cozy interior and delicious treats of Klara Bara
In keeping with our feature on Odessa, I’ve crisscrossed the city and interviewed dozens of locals (okay, three, actually – but they really knew what they were talking about) to find you the best meals in the cultural capital of Southern Ukraine. And it wasn’t easy: Odessa is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to cuisine. Taking their culinary cues from the Mediterranean much more than any Slavic sense of dining, Odessan restaurantsoffer visitors long and languid feasts with food that should be consumed slow enough for savoring. It’s not uncommon for a meal here to last hours, each succulent course broken only by much pouring of ubiquitous wine. So, though you can have a fine dinner in dozens of eateries here, I know my readers are ruled by the most discerning of palates, and depend on me to find them only the best. After much effort, I humbly submit the following selections.
Bulvar can easily claim the best location for dinner anywhere in town. Located just a few steps back from the Potemkin Stairs and the statue of Duc de Richilieu, the place commands sweeping views of the Black Sea. If the weather is right and you get a seat outside, this could easily be the most romantic evening you’ve had in a decade. But make sure to step inside: The building itself is a tastefully ornate pre-war affair, with wide arches welcoming you into a lobby decorated to recreate the feel of early 19th-century Odessa. Advertisements for visiting chanteuses popular at the time vie for attention with curious period articles such as parasols and bicycle parts. Divided into two halls, my guest and I sat in the onenearest the sea, where a tuxedo-clad young man deftly played relaxing and mournful showtoons on a polished and well-strung baby grand. The room itself was lavish in the tasteful manner of styles past, with wrought iron railings and high ceilings that might have seemed cold had the place notbeen decorated with such obvious good cheer in mind. And, an odd bit of kitsch, the tables are all laid with small bowls bearing live goldfish, though they thankfully removed ours before our entree ofpike perch (Hr 57) arrived (my guest, a recently lapsed vegetarian, couldn’t bear to face the accusing – andbulbous –eyes of our uninvited dining partner). But the heft and quality of the fillet soon mollified all guilt. The flaky and tender flesh fell onto her fork with the lightest of scrapes and the accompanying vegetables were greedily devoured, clad as they were with a beautifully simple coating of butter and salt.
An order of calamari (Hr 51) also proved impressive: the batter was light and crisp,more in the style oftempura than the husky dough usually found in pubs and Italian restaurants. And the rings of squid – a sizable number – separated easily as you bit into them (in lesser eateries, the seafood can sometimes have all the yield and flavor of rubber bands). What’s more, the small bowl of garlic mayonnaise served on the side easily trumpedour desire for a more traditionaltartar or tomato sauce.
Involving the city’s Jewish past, an order of Tsimes (Hr 26) proved surprisingly complex. Translated loosely from Yiddish as “stew,” the dish may boast even more variations than borscht, and ours was a curious mix of kidney beans, mushrooms and fried onions all gathered in a tomato ragout. But the trio blended beautifully and, what’s more, hidden at the bottom was half a bulb of roasted garlic, cooked just enough to leave the cloves nearly as pliable as butter. As my guest and I both were fighting off illness, we greedily devouredthe lobes.
But the standout for me was a salad curiously called “Odessa shared apartment.” It was indeed a curious mix of roommates: perfectly soft purple-pink ribbons of beet coiled around plump and seedless prunes, all lightly coated in a mayonnaise-based dressing that was miraculously applied with such a light touch that it merely highlighted the sweetness of the ingredients rather than obscure them all with a robust smack of oil.
The only off note of the entire meal was curiously advertised as the “respected dish of all Odessa residents.” And while “bitochek” (Hr 53) may certainly be beloved, I found Bulvar’s rendition of this pounded pork brisket fried in egg batter to be tough and relatively bland. Perhaps I should’ve chosen from the extensive steak menu. Ah well, just another excuse to return.
Bulvar
1 Katerinskaya Ploshad, 8-048-777-0339
English menu: yes
English-speaking staff: yes
A relaxing hideaway in the center of town
So, put simply, right now Klara Bara is my favorite restaurant in all of Ukraine. And I’m not just saying that because of the food. No, in fact, Klara Bara is one of those incredibly rare restaurants here that just seems to have everything perfectly put together: cuisine, ambiance, location, service – nothing signals even a hint of a sour note. While the view is perhaps not as dramatic or sweeping as Bulvar’s, it’s twice as comfortable, nestled as it is within Odessa’s beautiful City Garden, just a minute’s walk from the main drag of Deribasovskaya. But that’s part of it’s genius: While only a few yards away the city swells with pedestrian revelers, the lush enveloping trees seem to block the noise as effectively as they shade the sun. You might as well be dining in a Carpathian kolyba were it not from the thriving open-air art market mere steps in front of you.
The interior as well was designed with “cozy” thoroughly in mind. You get the sense that you’ve been eating there for years the moment you sit down. And, indeed, Klara Bara functions as much as a private club as it does a restaurant. I happened to be eating there the first time with a relatively well-known local intellectual, and it seemed that every patron who entered either nodded, waved, shook hands or said hello. Another regular diner simply referred to the place as “his office,” explaining that, in his mind, business was best conducted over a great meal (I couldn’t agree more).
But you can conduct pleasure just as easily as business at Klara Bara. After making the painfully difficult decision of whether to sit within the softly lit and richly wooded dining room or hold court amidst the foliage and the sunset outside, take a minute to peruse a menu that blissfully doesn’t overreach itself in selection. After spending hours these last few months poring over the dense tomes that so many restaurants in Ukraine employ, it’s a relief to finally be handed one that concentrates solely on a few dishes executed with professional certainty. And after checking the first page of seasonal specials,choose the “country plate” (Hr 34) for alight starter: tender and thin slices of tonguearranged like the petals of a flower, topped with delicate mushrooms and diced peppers so fresh that they’ve escaped the kitchen with all of their crunch intact. The meat is boiled to a chewy perfection and the light dressing of citrus perfectly draws out the natural earthy richness of the mushrooms. Place a slice or two atop the wonderful complimentary bread (if you’re lucky, you’ll catch it fresh from the oven, marveling at the escaping steam while you tear into a roll).
Follow the tongue with a salad of beetroot, apple, cheese and walnuts (Hr 24), a dish that masterfully blends the sweet, tart, firm and fleshy characteristics of its constituents.And every ingredient is on its best behavior: the apple is perfectly ripe, the white cheese neither too young or too strong, the walnuts lightly roasted to get rid of their acidity and the beetroots perfectly cooked for texture. The flavors themselves,rather than scream one by one for attention, clasp hands in a cacophonous melange that is as pretty to look at as it is to eat. Also as accomplished is the Greek salad (Hr 30), a bowl of perfectly ripened tomatoes, cucumbers and red peppers, lightly anointed with oil and furnished with a small brick of ACTUAL feta cheese, itself dusted with a fine covering of aromatic herbs. I’ve eaten three of these since I arrived.
For heavier fare, I was told that the fillet of turbot with sauteed almonds (Hr 71) is as “Odessa” as a diner can get. But, while the fish was perfectly cooked and the portion generous, I still found the dish to be a bit bland (though, at Klara Bara, any time flavor’s a problem, just drizzle on a little of the exceptional red pepper oil that alights at each table. It’s fiery unction will provide a unmistakable heat to any plate that dares to approach prosaic. However, the pork ribs (Hr 54) could not have been better. I’ve often been disappointed by plates of ribs in Kyiv, usually a tough cut of overcooked animal covered in a thick coating of quickly congealing fat. At Klara Bara, however, the rack is trim, moist, falling off the bone and coated in a piquant sauce that successfully approximates the national take on barbecue.
If you’re sitting outside and the evening grows a bit chilly, order abowl of the Siam soup (Hr 62 for two). While a Thai dish might seem incongruous on this hearty and homey menu, the result is nonetheless successful: a bright orange broth of mushrooms and seafood, with a rare appearance of spicy chilies that – be warned – can easily overwhelm the boldest of palates. If the shrimp seemed a bit tough and less than perfectly fresh, the squid gets all the attention it deserved, as the pulpy rings retain a perfect level of firmness and part easily with even a mild bite.
The meal is perfectly finished with a rather large slice of carrot cake (Hr 24), easily big enough for two. Klara Bara’s recipe for this traditional sweet brilliantly features orange zest, so each bite has a refreshing first note of strong citrus that’s cut down quickly by the mellow sweetness of the carrot before it can cause any lips to purse. Pair it with some of the best cups of coffee in town, or another bottle of the well-priced red or white table wine (Hr 350 for 500 grams). Believe me, I’d love to be more critical (and I usually am), but after you spend an evening at Klara Bara -sipping well-made drinks, talking endlessly with friends, listening to the nightly live music and watching the sunset over the treetops – I challenge you to express anything but the warmest of sentiments.
Klara Bara
City Garden, 8-048-220-0331
Open daily from 9 a.m. till midnight
English menu: yesEnglish-speaking staff: yes
